The Social Justice Advocates (SJA) of the Sapphire Coast have been running a program called Life Raft to help provide shelter to people across the Bega Valley who lost their homes in summer's bushfires. In response to the need for accommodation, the SJA have donated about 36 caravans to residents in the situation, with SJA chairperson Mick Brosnan saying the need was so great every time his group received a caravan "they go within days". "The demand seems to be non-stop, so there are a lot of people living in vans and the like," he said. "Other people have collected and donated vans, others are living in vans donated by relatives." READ ALSO: 'Multiple layers of trauma': Connecting impacted communities with global experts For instance, a couple of weeks ago the SJA became aware of a family living "very, very rough", he said, so provided three caravans for them. "They were sleeping rough, in the same terminology that we use to describe homelessness," he said. The summer's bushfires destroyed 466 homes across the Bega Valley, covered about 58 per cent of the region and took four lives. When contacted recently, Bega Valley Shire Council did not offer an official number of how many bushfire-affected residents are living in unsuitable accommodation, but the Quaama Bushfire Relief Centre coordinator estimated about 30 households were in such a situation in the Quaama region. Mr Brosnan believed it was very hard to ascertain how many people were living unsuitable or temporary accommodation. "That seems odd, but it's really hard to keep track of people," he said. "It seems that the vast majority of people want to go back on their properties." He has taken some caravans out to properties himself and described some as "moonscapes", while others were trying to rebuild while living in difficult circumstances. "For those who are still looking at the tin burnt shells of their homes, that's particularly difficult to live with," he said. "There are varied stages of recovery, but they all seem to be exceedingly resilient in spite of the virus and their situation - but they can vary, how they are going." READ ALSO: Rural Aid brings 207 water tanks for Bega Valley's bushfire-impacted residents He said the SJA had also recently received a donation that would allow them to purchase four or five good caravans for the Life Raft program, and one of his group's volunteers had been refurbishing the second-hand caravans they had received. Rotary Merimbula have helped with recycled linen, rugs and blankets as well collecting and delivering several caravans from Melbourne. The SJA is seeking for caravans in reasonable condition to be contributed to Life Raft. To do so, email Mr Brosnan at annmickbrosnan@gmail.com.

Caravan donations provide shelter for those living on fire-destroyed properties

The Social Justice Advocates (SJA) of the Sapphire Coast have been running a program called Life Raft to help provide shelter to people across the Bega Valley who lost their homes in summer's bushfires.

In response to the need for accommodation, the SJA have donated about 36 caravans to residents in the situation, with SJA chairperson Mick Brosnan saying the need was so great every time his group received a caravan "they go within days".

"The demand seems to be non-stop, so there are a lot of people living in vans and the like," he said.

"Other people have collected and donated vans, others are living in vans donated by relatives."

He said the SJA had also recently received a donation that would allow them to purchase four or five good caravans for the Life Raft program, and one of his group's volunteers had been refurbishing the second-hand caravans they had received.

Rotary Merimbula have helped with recycled linen, rugs and blankets as well collecting and delivering several caravans from Melbourne.

The SJA is seeking for caravans in reasonable condition to be contributed to Life Raft. To do so, email Mr Brosnan at annmickbrosnan@gmail.com.